Drake's "Control Her" Lyrics

Disclaimer: So I know the real title of the song by Drake is "Controlla" (which I like more than his other song "One Dance") but anyway, I had a great conversation with YouTuber Joseph Ferguson (HUGE Drake fan) about my thoughts on the song's lyrics and possible critic.

Lyrics provided by A-Z Lyrics:

"Controlla"
(feat. Popcaan)

Yeah, okay, you like it
When I get, aggressive, tell you to
Go slower, go faster
Like controlla, controlla
Yeah, like controlla, controlla
Yeah And I’m never on a wasting shorty
I do it how you say you want it
Them girls, they just wanna take my money
They don't want me to give you nothing
They don't want you to have nothing
They don't wanna see me find your lovin'
They don't wanna see me
Smiling back when they pree

Knowing I'd lie for you
Thinking I'd die for you
Jodeci "Cry For You"
Do things when you want me too
Like controlla, controlla
Yeah, like controlla, controlla

So you may be thinking, "What's so bad about those lyrics?" That's a great question! 

As I was riding in my car listening to the radio and dancing to this song, I stopped dancing and started to analyze the words (after singing the chorus). My mom always said "be careful what you listen to". The beat may be catchy but the words could send negative and subliminal messages to your brain without you even realizing. Note: Keep in mind that I understand the song and just giving others a new perspective of analyzing the lyrics.

Here it goes: I automatically thought the song was talking about abuse! "Controlla" all of a sudden sounded like "Control Her" and the lyrics reflecting adoration of Drake expressing his love suddenly turned into the cycle of Power & Control. Him saying he can control her by doing all the things she wants him to do in order to "control her" was a scary thought. But this type of abuse exists! "Knowing I'd lie for you, thinking I'd die for you, etc." in order to threaten the victim into staying are tactics abuser use to coarse the victim into staying in the relationship and continue suffering through the abuse. Abusers are manipulators and will make the victim think that they cannot live without them or that the abuse will eventually stop. However, we all know it gets worse from there. "They don't want to see me smiling back when they pree" sounds like people telling her to get out of the relationship while she can but he convinces her that they are haters and don't want to see them happy in the relationship. Another common tactic said by abusers who are usually labeled as friendly, out-going, charismatic, etc.

Maybe I've been TOO involved at my internship which is a Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse center for victims but at the same time, I CLEARLY learned something and can educate others on it outside of my internship. Joseph, being the big Drake fan he is, defended Drake's lyrics which is fine. I understand that others who will read this will too. I even agreed with him... for the most part. I knew my ideals were far fetched and overly analyzed (as usual). However, my experience working with victims and learning the cycle of Power & Control would not let me stop analyzing that aspect of the lyrics. We continued on and ended up discussing rape culture and how the lines of "no being no and yes being yes" are blurred in our society (which I'm saving to tackle in another blog post).

I feel like discussions like this need to be had more and educate everyone on the different forms of abuse and the importance of communication... Instead of controlling her, let's control the conversations about domestic violence and rape culture and unblur these lines!